Entry 130-4
Mark Davis - How to Catch Bass in November
Why Fish Tubes in the Fall
Editor's Note: One of the hottest Strike King Pros this past year was Mark Davis. Davis won three BASS events and consistently placed in the money. To help you catch fish this month, Davis shares how he catches bass in November.
Davis: Tube baits imitate crawfish like jigs, but they look different and have a different action from the jig. I believe tubes appeal to bass and have a great deal of drawing power. Many times, I’ll only fish a tube during a day of fishing in November. Other times, after I fish an area with a jig, I come back and fish that same area with a tube. If I fish an area where many fishermen are using the jig, I use the tube because it’s a smaller, more-subtle bait and is more streamlined than the jig. You’ll get some strikes on the tube that you won’t get on the jig.
I like the new Strike King Bleeding Tube Bait because of the way it’s designed. Unlike many other types of bait, the tentacles on these tubes are not just stained red. Instead, the inside color of the tentacle is red with another color laid over it. Having the red on the inside of the tentacles produces a flash of red, which I believe looks much more natural than a big dose of red on the end of the bait.
My favorite tube color for November is watermelon with copper flake, a great crawfish-imitating tube. I fish this bait on 20-pound-test line with a heavy-action rod and a Pflueger President reel. I rig the tube Texas style with either a 1/4- or a 5/16-ounce weight and either a No. 3/0 or No. 4/0 EWG hook. These hooks are tube-style that have an extra wide bend in them. I fish the tube in the same places I fish the jig—on points, around boat docks, creek-channel banks and on creek-channel swings and bluff banks. I fish this bait slowly in 5 to 20 feet of water.
Since the tube is a heavy plastic bait, you can cast it on a heavy rod. When you have a heavy bait, a heavy hook and a lead sinker, you need a heavy-action rod to set the hook hard. I think you have to set the hook as hard, if not harder, when you fish the tube as you do when you fish the jig. If you use a medium-action rod instead of a heavy-action rod, you won’t set the hook as hard and catch as many bass. I won the BASS tournament in Columbus, Mississippi, last year using this tube tactic. I learned that if I don’t set the hook really hard when I fish the tube, many times that hook won’t penetrate the plastic, and I’ll lose the bass that bites my jig.
Contents:
- Part 1: Why Crank in November
- Part 2: How to Fish the Jig in November
- Part 3: Spinner Bait Fishing in November
- Part 4: Why Fish Tubes in the Fall
- Part 5: Why Fish a Jerkbait in November
